


i'm on my way (to your heart) ((again))

by siestatime



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Childhood Sweethearts, Does It Really Feel Good, Fluff and Angst, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, Journalism, Kickboxing, M/M, Reunited and It Feels So Good
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-15
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2020-03-05 23:58:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18839446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siestatime/pseuds/siestatime
Summary: Kwon Soonyoung was born ready for his job and that interview was one of many others; it wasn't supposed to be special but what did he expect? He was interviewing Lee Seokmin; an interview never ends normally with that boy, he knew that, but he didn't expect theirs to end with a confession.aka the au where Seokmin keeps messing up things for Soonyoung but the latter still falls for him like he did when they were kids





	1. you are a hurricane and my life is a house made of twigs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> soonyoung is ready to take on the world then seokmin breathes and soonyoung's world is in shambles

He applied a light layer of BB Cream as he had been breaking out after late nights of cramming articles and moving his schedule around just to get the opportunity to interview the rising star of kickboxing. Soonyoung scrunched his nose in satisfaction after putting on some lip balm and seeing that his animal print beret surprisingly looked good on him; he _knew_ the ridiculous accessory he had purchased online by mistake had a purpose in his life one way or another. SHINee was playing through the speakers as Soonyoung added final touches to his outfit. His phone alerted him that he’d received a few texts.

 **bestest friend in the world:** _go get him, tiger._

 **bestest friend in the world:** _you got this :)_

A smile made its way to his face, his eyes crinkling in delight. His best friend truly knows what to say and when to say it. After preparing his usual equipment when conducting an interview and turning off the music that resounded through his apartment, Soonyoung drove to the building of their company to pick up his camera man, who also worked part time as a model and who he considered his partner in crime in his fantastic journalist journey. One Yoon Jeonghan got in his car after putting the equipment in the trunk.

“Are you ready?” his tone cool and dismissive as always, Jeonghan asked as he buckled his seatbelt, phone clutched in the other hand.

“I was born for this, hyung,” Soonyoung said with a determined grin, his eyes shimmering in both excitement and nervousness.

 _Of course, he’d done his research and knew a portion of what was waiting for him at the kick boxer’s training gym._ Soonyoung cleared his throat in hopes of getting rid of the nervousness creeping up his arms, moving his hand to turn up the radio; Falling for U by some rising indie artist called Joshua was playing. He noticed the smile that grew on his Jeonghan-hyung’s lips as the chorus came on.

“You remember someone?” Soonyoung asked, smirking in amusement.

Jeonghan returned the smirk with slightly flushed cheeks, pulling his windbreaker closer to his body as he muttered, “Yeah, something like that.”

“That Joshua guy’s having a concert soon, I could totally snag us some tickets,” Soonyoung said, grinning as he took a turn.

“Of course, you can snag us some tickets, you’re a journalist. It’s one of your perks!” Jeonghan retorted, sounding like he was complaining, gaze still glued on his phone.

“Are you coming with me or not?” Soonyoung asked as he parked the car across the street of the address given to him directly by the kick boxer’s colleague since the athletes’ coach and managers were out of town.

The two boys unbuckled their seatbelts once Soonyoung turned off the engine and unlocked the doors. A small mysterious smile was painted on Jeonghan’s lips as he said, “I’ll think about it.” The elder went to retrieve his equipment from the trunk as Soonyoung grabbed his usual satchel from the backseat. _This is it_. He glanced at Jeonghan, who gave him one thumbs up before having the camera on the ready. He walked towards the glass door of the training gym, taking a deep breath and setting his heart to journalist mode. He went inside and spotted the rising star’s colleague by the front desk of the gym.

“Kwon Soonyoung-ssi, you’re here early!” a man who looked around Jeonghan’s age said, giving both of them a kind smile, looking used to having journalists and publicists approach him for all the reasons alike.

“Ah, Choi Seungcheol-ssi, please call me Soonyoung,” He replied with a smile, shaking the former’s hand.

“As long as you stop calling me ‘Choi Seungcheol-ssi’,” the athlete said, winking. “Seungcheol-hyung is fine. Well, I assume you’re younger than me.”

Soonyoung chuckled and nodded. He had done research about Seungcheol as well. He was an amazing kick boxer but not as amazing as the one he was about to interview since that one was gaining attention and appreciation at an extremely rapid rate.

“Hyung!” a familiar voice called out, making the three men’s heads whip towards the direction where the voice came from, a bright smile welcomed them. “Don’t steal the spotlight. I’ll hook you up with another journalist some time.”

Soonyoung looked at Seungcheol just in time to catch his bitter reaction, which was narrowing his eyes at the younger athlete and grumbling ‘that little punk’ under his breath before walking away from the journalist and his camera man.

“Here’s your _rising star_ , Soonyoung. I’ll be back to check on you later, I’ll just go and train for a bit,” Seungcheol said with an amused smile, as if he knew something.

“Alright, thank you, Seungcheol-hyung,” Soonyoung said with a grateful smile before turning to their interviewee and star of the morning after Seungcheol had walked off.

“Do you want to do the interview in one of the athletes’ resting room or do you want to sit in the ring with me?” was all it took to knock the air out of Soonyoung’s lungs.

He felt Jeonghan’s demeanor change as him being starstruck sent him into a coughing fit. He felt embarrassment grew at the pit of his stomach, feeling the athlete walk closer in worry as he hadn’t stopped coughing. After a moment, he gained the ability to breathe properly and mustered up the courage to say, “You choose which is more comfortable for you. You can ask our camera man, too.”

The rising star brought them to another room that had a ring in the middle of it. The athlete quickly pulled two metal chairs for him and Soonyoung and a bottle of water, which Soonyoung politely declined since he had his water jug with him, as Jeonghan set up the camera and the tripod where Soonyoung’s back was in the frame, as well as the ring that served as their background. Soonyoung brought out a sheet of paper from the folder in his satchel that had his outline of questions that were especially made for that interview. The journalist and the athlete sat across each other and of course, the interviewer was the first to speak.

“Hello, my name is Kwon Soonyoung and I’ll be your interviewer for today,” Soonyoung calmly said with a small smile, offering a hand.

“Lee Seokmin,” the latter said, shaking his hand with a charming smile.

“I’ll brief you a bit on what’s going to be the content of this interview so you won’t be caught off guard by the questions later on,” Soonyoung said, not missing a beat, crossing his legs as he tried to sit comfortably in his chair. _I just want this interview to be over_.

***

“Last question, Seokmin-ssi, if you weren’t an athlete, what would you be right now?” Soonyoung said, his tone signaling that he was finally wrapping up the goddamned interview.

The younger, who had dark brown hair that was slightly unruly due to sweat and blue contact lenses covering the real colour his eyes possessed, looked over Soonyoung’s shoulder, really putting thought to what his answer was going to be.

“Your boyfriend,” Seokmin softly answered, making Soonyoung’s jaw slack.

The elder quickly regained his composure and said, “Okay, cut. That’s enough for today.” Soonyoung looked behind to look at Jeonghan, who, too, was surprised by the young athlete’s response to the question.

“Hyung, stop recording,” Soonyoung said, his tone clipped and firm.

“Sorry, sorry,” Jeonghan muttered after quickly snapping out of his awe, fumbling to turn off the camera.

Soonyoung stood up and offered a hand for Seokmin to shake, leaving Jeonghan to pack up the equipment on his own like he always did.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Lee Seokmin-ssi,” Soonyoung said with eyes lackluster and voice void of any emotion, gripping the latter’s hand tightly as he quickly shook his hand.

The elder turned his back to roughly take off the beret on his head, revealing his faded red hair, to fix his things and to momentarily take off the mask and let himself look vulnerable as he all but tried not to break down then and there. The athlete’s words repeated themselves in his head as he zipped up his bag, his chin starting to quiver uncontrollably.

“Hyung, can we talk?” Seokmin said, running a hand through his hair, distress in his eyes and his voice.

Soonyoung quickly turned around, poking a finger at Seokmin’s chest. The latter looked quite dumbfounded because of Soonyoung’s hair and how hard his finger poked his chest.

“Business is business, Lee Seokmin. You can’t go around throwing words like that on an interview. What you did can damage careers; yours and mine,” Soonyoung bit back through gritted teeth, tears making his vision swim.

He quickly turned his back to wipe away the tears that were starting to fall down his cheeks with the back of his hand and started to walk towards the door after receiving a nod from Jeonghan that signaled that he was packed and ready to go.

“You really care that much about your career, hyung?”

Soonyoung wanted to look back upon hearing how hurt the latter sounded but he said it himself. _Business is business._ He cleared his throat and gave his most honest answer.

“Yes, I do,” he turned to look at Seokmin. “I worked _so_ hard to come this far. You did, too. I gave up many things to come this far and I sure as hell know you did, too.”

Soonyoung was known to be good in both feature writing and newswriting whereas Seokmin was getting the recognition he deserved in his field of expertise. The two had worked hard to achieve what they were at that point. Seokmin was at a loss. He didn’t know what to answer because he knew Soonyoung was right and what he did was going to bite him back in the ass though what he answered felt like the right one at that moment. Soonyoung took the opportunity to leave after knowing that Seokmin didn’t have anything left to say.

“It was a pleasure, Lee Seokmin-ssi,” Jeonghan, who was confused and surprised, simply said, tone respectful, quickly bowing his head before following Soonyoung out of the room and out of the building.

The ride back to their company’s building was quiet. Soonyoung had made a point that he didn’t want to talk after turning up the volume of the radio. The car stopped in front of the building and Jeonghan knew it was time to go.

“Thank you, Jeonghan-hyung,” Soonyoung quietly said, like he always did after every time Jeonghan accompanied him.

“Always, Soonyoungie,” Jeonghan said, reaching over to give him a gentle pat on the back.

Jeonghan then cleared his throat and said, “About the Joshua concert…”

“Hyung, you don’t have to come if you don’t want to or if you’re busy on that day, it’s okay, too,” Soonyoung replied, his tone guilty, eyes set on the road ahead.

“I think I have a photo shoot that day. I’ll let you know, alright? I’ll see you tomorrow, rest up, you did well today,” Jeonghan said, trying to get Soonyoung to look at him but failing when Soonyoung simply responded with a sigh and a nod. “I’ll also see what I can do with today’s interview. I’ll tell the editing team to not include it.”

“Thank you, hyung,” Soonyoung said, turning his head to look at Jeonghan, who just gave him an empathetic tight lipped smile before getting out of the car to get his equipment from the back.

Soonyoung waited until Jeonghan got back inside the building before driving to one of the cafés near his apartment to eat lunch. He was absolutely sent to shambles by his encounter with Seokmin as he messed up his order, which thankfully the barista knew too well and served him his usual one instead. He sat alone, quietly eating as he blankly stared at the chair across him, his mind consumed by the unexpected turn of events.

After eating lunch and parking his car in his usual slot back at the apartment, he trudged up the stairs, shocking everyone who lived and worked there that saw him, who knew that he was definitely one to fight for a spot in the elevator. He took his time climbing up the stairs, his blank gaze on whatever was in front of him. He got to the fifth floor and went to his room. He snapped out of his consuming thoughts upon seeing a little potted succulent on his doorstep. He looked around but didn’t see anyone in the hallway. He sighed and mustered a little smile after picking it up and seeing the little note attached to it that said, _‘have a nice day today!_ _:)_ _from: your new neighbour across the hall’_. He unlocked his door and got inside, toeing his shoes off. He sighed exasperatedly upon seeing the mess he left in his apartment upon preparing for the interview. Then again, he was reminded of the unexpected turn of events in his life exclusively brought to him by the rising star of kickboxing.  _Lee Seokmin, you are a hurricane and my life is a house made of twigs._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO i haven't posted in months and here i am i'm bacc heheheheh anyways i've had this idea after i finished watching svt club which was a few months ago and i never really wrote it bc it b like dat sumtimez, luv xx ksksksksk anyways that was part 1 and i have no idea how long it will be ! i hope y'all liked it !!! pls don't hesitate to throw questions, suggestions or prompts at me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/naptime_twt) and on [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/leaderlines) !! please drink lots of water and have a great day everyday 
> 
> ♡ jia


	2. i figure it's been tough for you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the whole footage of the interview was published. what happens next?

The notifications woke him earlier than his alarm did. The relentless dinging and buzzing made him roll over, with one eye barely cracked open, to scroll through his notifications as an attempt to get the gist of what the hell was going on. Upon seeing one particular notification, he was sitting up; both eyes wide open, clutching his phone in his hands, faded red hair sticking up in different directions.

_YOUTUBE                                                                                                                  8h ago_

_Check In™ uploaded: HOSHI AND A RISING STAR EP. 22 with Kickboxing Star Lee Seokmin_

He quickly tapped on the notification and watched their interview, which was edited; _thank the heavens_ , but the video kept on playing even when Soonyoung expected it to end. He froze as he realised that the last question wasn’t edited out.

_“Last question, Seokmin-ssi, if you weren’t an athlete, what would you be right now?”_

_“Your boyfriend.”_

His mind went haywire. He screamed in panic and then proceeded to screaming further into his pillow. He sat up and as he was about to call Jeonghan’s number, his phone screen froze for a second and showed that **bestest friend in the world** was calling him. He immediately swiped to answer it.

 _Soonyoung, please don’t go on the Internet._ “You’re a little late, Won,” Soonyoung tried to answer sarcastically but there was still a bit of panic in his tone.

He heard a sigh come from the other line.

 _Why didn’t you tell me about that part?_ Soonyoung inhaled sharply and said, “I’m sorry, Wonwoo, I just didn’t think he’d answer that and it really blew me away. I, I got flustered and surprised and angry; I didn’t know what to do or what to feel or what to think. Wonwoo, we can make it go away right?”

 _He’s your childhood best friend and first love, Soonyoung and he was yours, too. Did you really expect him to just forget you that easily? You didn’t forget him easily either. I remember all the times I went home to our dorm and you’d be drunk and crying because you missed him._ “I know, no need to remind how much of a mess I was in college,” Soonyoung grumbled under his breath, making Wonwoo chuckle on the other end.

 _I don’t think it’ll be easy to make this simply go away, but I think we can do something to not make it worse. By the way, Jeonghan-hyung texted me and told me that he sent a memo to the editing team to cut the last question but they still published the whole interview. I’m going to have to talk to the editing team._ “Okay,” Soonyoung said, pulling the duvet closer to his body.

 _Come to the office after lunch. We’ll fix this, alright? In the meantime, you stay put, get some rest and just, don’t go online or watch the news. I’ll text you if anything._ “Okay, thank you, Wonwoo,” He mumbled into the speaker.

Wonwoo chuckled on the other end.

 _Maybe you forgot that your best friend is the CEO of the company you work for. Things will work out just fine, calm down, okay? All your hard work won’t go to shit. It’s going to be okay._ “I said this already, but thanks, Won, really.”

Then, Wonwoo hung up. After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door. Soonyoung nervously looked at the door, his mind instantly going panic mode.

“Open up, it’s your neighbours!” Soonyoung immediately felt at ease. He stood up to open the door and was shocked to see an addition to the usual Minghao and Jihoon he always knew and had. Behind Minghao stood a tall boy with Caucasian features with his hair black and eyes a deep brown. Jihoon just walked in, Minghao following.

“By the way, hyung, that’s Hansol. He just moved across you,” Minghao said, slinging an arm around Soonyoung's shoulders.

“Hello, I’m the one that left you a succulent,” Hansol said with a shy smile.

“That was you? Thank you, it lifted up my spirits yesterday,” Soonyoung replied, lightly smiling, temporarily forgetting about the mess he was forced into. “Come in, please.”

Hansol walked in, closing the door behind him. Soonyoung slightly lifted his head to catch Minghao’s gaze and said, “What are you doing here?”

“Have you forgotten that I’m your emotional support K-pop boy, hyung?” Minghao sarcastically replied, resulting to the other boys laughing at his response and Soonyoung flicking him on the forehead.

“Anyways, we brought you food,” Jihoon said, lifting two paper bags.

Soonyoung smiled and said, “Anime?”

The three boys nodded and said, “Anime.”

 

***

 

After eating their way through half of the latest season of _Haikyuu!!_ , they—and by _they_ , obviously, Jihoon wasn’t included as he stayed seated on the couch scrolling on his phone—decided to clean up the living room area. They haven’t talked about what happened for the past hour and a half but Soonyoung felt that the other badly wanted to ask how it all happened.

“I never thought he’d answer that, you know,” Soonyoung said, drying his hands on a kitchen towel.

The three boys’ heads turned towards him, Minghao’s eyebrows rising in surprise. Soonyoung made his way back to the couch, Hansol and Minghao following after they had finished cleaning up their trash.

“I assume you’ve all watched the interview,” Soonyoung said, looking at Jihoon expectantly.

“I didn’t watch the whole interview but the video clip of the last question, I did get to watch. It’s gone viral,” Jihoon replied, running a hand through his dyed blonde hair.

“Viral?” Soonyoung echoed.

He never expected himself to go viral that way, in a _scandal_ with someone he used to know so well. Actually, he didn’t expect the last question to be published, which was why he didn’t panic too much the day before. Soonyoung covered his face with his hands, sighing exasperatedly. Minghao rubbed comforting circles on his back, mumbling ‘it’s going to be okay’ several times.

“What are you going to do about it, hyung?” Hansol asked, resting his chin on Jihoon’s shoulder, making the latter move his shoulder away. “Ah, I’m sorry, hyung.”

Soonyoung snickered at Jihoon’s reaction and said, “I honestly have no idea. I want to clear up the issue but I can’t do that on my own. I still work for Check In and releasing a statement has to be decided with the boss.”

“You’re meeting up with Wonwoo-hyung later?” Minghao asked, Hansol muttering ‘who’s Wonwoo-hyung?’ to Jihoon.

Soonyoung nodded as Jihoon muttered back to Hansol, “Soonyoung’s best friend and the CEO of Check In.”

Hansol’s eyes widened in surprise and just slightly nodded.

“Do you want me to give you a ride, hyung?” Minghao asked.

“I’d love that,” Soonyoung said with a soft smile.

A short silence passed before Jihoon spoke again.

“Do you think there’ll be reporters when you arrive at the company?”

Soonyoung already had that in mind. Since the scandal was widespread, there was bound to be many reporters to get a scoop of whatever the hell was allegedly happening between him and the athlete.

“Of course, there’ll be reporters, which is why we’ll use the parking building to get inside the company,” Soonyoung said, wringing his hands as a poor attempt of calming his nerves.

“What time will you be going to the company?” Jihoon asked, looking down at his phone screen.

Soonyoung glanced at the clock and said, “In about half an hour, why?”

“I’m coming with you. I’ll just get dressed,” Jihoon said before standing up.

“What do you mean you’re coming with me?” Soonyoung asked, eyebrows furrowed in his confusion.

“Hansol, your shift starts at 2, right?” the youngest nodded. Jihoon nodded to the direction of the door. “Get dressed, too. We’ll just drop you off before going to the company.”

“Why are you coming with? I’m still confused,” Soonyoung asked, glancing at Minghao, who was scrolling on his Instagram feed, as Jihoon and Hansol walked towards the door.

“I have an interview.” And with that, Jihoon and Hansol were out the door.

 _An interview? At Check In?_ Soonyoung thought to himself as he unlocked his phone, tempted to go online but Minghao snatched it from his hands just when he was about to open Twitter.

“No checking the internet, hyung, it’ll make you panic more. Why don’t you go and put on a face mask or something?” Minghao suggested; voice quite void of emotion as he was still engrossed in whatever on his screen.

“Or something,” Soonyoung grumbled as he lie down on Minghao’s thigh. “Hey, Hao.”

“Yeah, hyung?” Minghao asked, finally putting his phone down to look at the elder.

“Do you still talk to him?” He asked, sounding extremely vulnerable, making Minghao want to lie out of guilt.

“Yeah, I still do. Jihoon-hyung, too,” Minghao guiltily mumbled.

“Oh,” Soonyoung said. “But don’t be guilty, Haohao. Just because I’m not in good terms with him doesn’t mean you have to be the same. We’re all in Seoul and we’re all bound to run into each other at some point.”

“Thanks, hyung,” Minghao said, smiling lightly.

 

***

 

“Thanks for the ride, Minghao-hyung,” Hansol said, waving goodbye, slightly crouched down to look at the three older boys left in the car. “I’ll see you later, hyungs.”

“Take care, alright?” Minghao said, Hansol nodding and then closing the door of the backseat.

Then they were off to Check In.

“You still haven’t told me why you have an interview at Check In,” Soonyoung said, looking at Jihoon through the rearview mirror to which the younger just responded with a chuckle at the curious and impatient faded red haired boy.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Jihoon said, looking back at Soonyoung before going back to looking at his phone screen.

Soonyoung just sighed and looked out the window.

 

***

 

“Update me, alright? Jihoon-hyung, please don’t leave him unattended,” Minghao said, watching his two best friends get out of his car. “I have a shoot today and I might go for a drive. I’ve wanted to take photos. Don’t wait up.”

“Alright, I’ll keep you posted. Take care,” Jihoon said, grabbing Soonyoung's shoulder as he waved goodbye to the younger.

Jihoon and Soonyoung walked towards the entrance after Minghao drove off. The automatic doors opened for them and Soonyoung simply nodded to the girl at the reception desk, consciously pulling his cap down and making sure his mask covered half of his face properly.

“You know you sound like a married couple and I’m your delinquent child, right?” Soonyoung asked, snickering behind the black mask.

Jihoon flicked Soonyoung on the neck, muttering, “ Shut up.”

Soonyoung went straight to the head office after removing his cap and mask, Jihoon still trailing after him. He walked inside, seeing that Jeonghan and Chan, the intern and also Jihoon’s younger brother, were both sitting on the couch near Wonwoo’s desk.

Jeon Wonwoo was a smart man with simple wishes, grand dreams and extravagant actions. Even though he was the CEO of the entertainment company, he acted like everyone’s hyung and often dressed in the comfiest clothes. Except for the time he puts on a suit and tie, everyone knows he’s not just their ‘Wonwoo-hyung’ anymore.

That afternoon, Wonwoo was wearing a comfy shirt, a pair of lounge pants from Uniqlo that were surprisingly cheap, bedroom slippers and a silk robe, but despite the comfy get up, he looked very serious, even with his hair tied up apple style. Soonyoung walked towards him to give him a tight hug.

“You okay?” Wonwoo worriedly asked, Jeonghan and Chan standing up to greet Soonyoung as well.

“I’m still a bit panicked,” Soonyoung mumbled before pulling away to give Jeonghan and Chan short hugs as well before proceeding on the other couch near the desk.

Wonwoo then noticed Jihoon who had been standing by the door the whole time. Wonwoo curtly nodded at the younger and Jihoon returned the nod.

“Ah, Lee Jihoon-ssi, please take a seat next to your, uhm, brother,” Wonwoo said, bringing his hand up to the back of his neck to rub it awkwardly.

 _He’s been the CEO for seven years yet he still acts like an awkward teen._ Soonyoung fondly smiled as his best friend made his way to sit on the comfortable computer chair behind the desk.

“The entire company will be having a meeting in Board Room 1 in 5 minutes. Would you like to change into something else, hyung?” Chan asked Wonwoo just as he was about to get comfy in his seat, tapping his pen on the journal on top of his lap.

“Have you announced the meeting?” Wonwoo asked, removing the elastic from his hair.

Chan nodded and hid a smile as he saw that the elastic left an imprint on his boss’ hair, making it look like a lump asparagus. Jeonghan chuckled and said, “Fix your hair, boss.”

“Don’t call me that,” Wonwoo said, standing up to go to the bathroom, which was inside his little dressing room.

Chan then stood up and went to the closet tucked in the corner of the room. Jihoon watched as his brother brought out a whole new outfit for Wonwoo to put on and a hair dryer. When Chan went to the bathroom to help his boss get ready, Jihoon faced Soonyoung and said, “Is he always this laidback?”

Soonyoung and Jeonghan chuckled and Jeonghan answered for him.

“He doesn’t really want an awkward atmosphere and he doesn’t want to scare his employees either. Normally, when meeting new people, he’s very quiet and intimidating but he found his way of making people comfortable.”

“Which is…?” Jihoon trailed off, expecting an answer from the taller man with dyed blonde hair.

“Being a complete dork,” Jeonghan supplied, earning an amused smile from Jihoon.

After a few more minutes of Soonyoung fiddling with his thumbs and Jeonghan and Jihoon conversing, Wonwoo walked out of the dressing room, Chan trailing after him. Wonwoo was wearing a white loose button up with little black hearts printed on it and the sleeves neatly rolled up to just before his elbows, black slacks that were tailored to fit his figure and a pair of black leather shoes. He looked more like a CEO and less of a pro gamer that lives in his mom’s house and snacks on _ramyeon_ all day. His hair was also styled in a way that made him look quite intimidating.

“Lee Jihoon-ssi, the meeting won’t be long. Will you be okay waiting here?” Jihoon politely nodded. “Please help yourself I have some snacks and drinks in the fridge. I would let Jeonghan stay with you but he is needed in the meeting.”

“It’s okay, sir,” Jihoon said.

“Alright. Soonyoung, Jeonghan, let’s go,” Wonwoo said, curtly bowing to Jihoon before leaving his office.

Soonyoung, Jeonghan, Wonwoo and Chan walked to Board Room 1 on the third floor, where every employee was. There were about 30 employees in Check In—Soonyoung, Jeonghan, and Chan included—and all the board rooms were big enough to cater all of them. The board rooms were akin to a classroom, complete with armchairs, a whiteboard and a projector. There was a podium, which was often moved to the middle whenever it was time for a company meeting. When the four walked in, the employees’ chattering immediately died down as Soonyoung, Jeonghan and Chan sat in their usual seats at the front.

“I know that you are all very aware of the scandal including Lee Seokmin and our very own Kwon Soonyoung. The full footage of the interview was published despite the memo Jeonghan put out to the editing team and social media team. May I remind every single one of you that you are not allowed to disclose any information you know about Kwon Soonyoung or anything related to the scandal to the public or you will be fired just like the members of the editing team and social media team who neglected their duties of following memos from their coworkers,” Wonwoo calmly explained, hands resting on the podium.

The other employees murmured among themselves, probably nervous about the scandal and scared of losing their jobs. Jeonghan just nodded in agreement, Chan taking notes beside him. Soonyoung was surprised by the action Wonwoo took.

“Won, you didn’t have to fire them,” Soonyoung whispered, loud enough for his best friend to hear.

“I did have to fire them, Soonyoung, this isn’t the first time they’ve ignored memos and neglected their duties as an employee of my company,” Wonwoo answered, shutting up the employees again.

Soonyoung just chewed on his bottom lip and nodded, averting his gaze.

“Listen up, everyone. Our company will publish an official statement addressing the scandal. If a single person gets a word out to the press when you’re not supposed to, you will be fired immediately. Step a foot out of the line and I won’t hesitate to remove you from Check In. We’ve had a similar experience before with Yoon Jeonghan-ssi and the scandal went by quickly because everyone followed what I said. Please, _please,_ do not step as much as a toe out of the line. I’m tired of firing people with infinite potential but don’t know how to follow orders,” Wonwoo exasperatedly said, a hand on his hip, sighing.

“Check In will publish an article containing the statement, that Kwon Soonyoung and Lee Seokmin are no longer affiliated in any way except for interviewer and interviewee respectively. No one will dig into the backgrounds of these two men as they are under our protection just as Kwon Soonyoung and Lee Seokmin are under the protection of Lee Seokmin’s management. We will _protect_ these two men, understand?” Wonwoo said, glancing at his employees.

“Yes, sir,” the employees chorused.

 

***

 

**Check In™: “Journalist Kwon Soonyoung and Kickboxing Athlete Lee Seokmin are no longer affiliated in any way…” (SEE FULL ARTICLE)**

 

***

 

Baseball cap and face mask on again, Soonyoung walked on the sidewalk on the way back to his apartment. Jihoon told him to go ahead after sending a message to their _neighbours :D_ group chat, where Hansol was recently added, informing the other two that Soonyoung will be home earlier than him. Soonyoung took the stairs to their floor once again and he was welcomed by a small paper bag on his doorstep once again. He looked around to see if anyone was in their hallways but to no avail, there wasn’t anyone out at that hour. He looked inside the paper bag to see some _tteokbokki_ and checked on the paper bag again, smiling upon seeing the note written on it.

_Hang in there, hyung! :)_

_\- kmg_

He walked inside his unit, clutching the paper bag. After closing the door and slipping on his indoor slippers, he placed the paper bag on the kitchen counter and pulled out his phone to send a text when he saw that he had received a message from an unknown number.

 **Unknown Number:** _do you want to go out for coffee tomorrow? i figure it’s been tough for you. i’m a good listener hahaha diamond café, 12 pm, how’s that work for you?_

Soonyoung sighed, his hip resting on the cool marble counter, closed the text message and sent one to Jihoon instead.

 **TO buff babie neighbour:** _tell him I said thanks. :)_

He walked towards his room and typed a reply to the unknown number. He sat down on his bed, taking off his cap and mask. He then pressed send before he could regret it.

 **TO Unknown Number:** _thank you, hyung. i’ll see you tomorrow at 12_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hellooOOoOOoo !! i've been in a little slump and overall i didn't feel like writing and now that i've finished the entire second chapter in one sitting, i've decided to post it before adding more and going into a slump once again ksksksks anyways happy pride month my people !! seoksoon said Gay Rights ! sO yea that's all for this chapter please tell me what you think thru the comments or on [twitter](https://twitter.com/naptime_twt) and on [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/leaderlines) !!! send in suggestions prompts and other fun stuff like that too !!! let's support ateez with their upcoming cb !!! i don't know all of the members yet but i can't wait to see what they've prepared for this cb :D please smile a lot and have a great day everyday
> 
> ♡ jia


	3. you truly are the cherry on the fucking top of this fantastically chaotic day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> who knew a hooded figure, fried chicken, two texts and an e-mail could change the course of soonyoung's career?

**_neighbours :D_ **

**hansol:** _hyungs! it’s saturday today let’s have some fuuuuun_

**minghao:** _i have a photoshoot today D:_

**soonyoung:** _what’s your definition of fun @hansol bc staying in bed all day sounds fun to me_

**jihoon:** _soons ??? is that you ?????? since when did u become so relatable lmao_

**soonyoung:** _i’m a cool kid ,,,, unlike u_

**jihoon:** _lol ok sure_

**jihoon:** _anw i have plans today sorry_

**hansol:** _i have the shinee world v in seoul dvd_

**soonyoung:** _my beloved hansol, why have i ever doubted you_

**hansol:** _hahaha i’m coming over_

**soonyoung:** _i’ll order food for us_

**minghao:** _i’d ditch the photoshoot for shinee tbh_

**jihoon:** _y’all annoying i wish i can ditch my bf for shinee :(_

**soonyoung:** _come over you cowards i’m only free till lunch time_

**hansol:** _why don’t u just bring your bf, hoon hyung?_

**jihoon:** _if i bring him over, he’ll forget that i’ll exist and focus on shinee instead. he and soonyoung get along really well, soonie might not be able to leave the house if i brought him over_

**hansol:** _… i might have to take a rain check on our shinee bonding time.. my coworker just texted me and said he needed my help at the café today :(_

**soonyoung:** _let’s just reschedule the shinee dvd watching :D_

 

***

 

Soonyoung sighed, tossing on his side after locking his phone. _No, SHINee today, I guess._ Somewhere in between raiding his fridge, sitting on the counter top and staring at the wall while sitting on the couch upside down, Soonyoung found himself scrolling through his posts on his old Twitter account that he kept. He scrolled back to the part where he and Seokmin were still dating. He read through each and every Tweet he sent about Seokmin and ended up sobbing into the back of his hand. He wasn’t over him, he was _never_ over him. He regretted breaking up with him but at the same time, he didn’t. They both agreed on breaking up because they wanted to be able to do what they really wanted in the future and they realised what they had to sacrifice to be able to achieve that. They didn’t have to sacrifice their feelings but they did. He regretted it every day, even on the day he got accepted in Wonwoo’s company. Soonyoung sat up and tried to wipe away his tears but that didn’t stop them from falling. He lay down on the couch again and curled up into a ball, pulling a throw pillow to his chest as he tried to silence his sobs. Soon enough, his sobs quieted down and he drifted off to sleep.

 

***

 

His phone kept buzzing in his hand, another notification waking him up. Without even looking at the caller I.D., Soonyoung answered the call with a groan and a “who is it?”.

 _Soonyoung, where are you? I’m here already._ Soonyoung immediately sat up and looked at the clock. It was 12:18. “Shit, shit, shit, sorry, hyung. My apartment is near that café, I won’t take long. I’m really sorry, I fell asleep.”

Soonyoung heard a laugh on the other end and he rubbed a hand on his face in frustration. He hates being late.

 _Take your time, I won’t leave. Just look for the boy with silver hair._ “I’ll be there in a bit, I promise.”

Soonyoung hung up and ran to his room. He stood in front of his closet, looking through all sorts of tops he could choose from. He spotted a black hoodie and a pair of comfy board shorts. He lifted his arm to take a whiff of his armpit. _Thank heavens I don’t smell._ He changed into his new set of clothes. He ran around in his room, grabbing his essentials, before hastily walking to his shoe rack to grab his slides. He slipped on his slides, put his hood up and put on his face mask before sprinting down the hallway and down the stairs.

He walked in the café he knew all too well, nodding at Hansol and Seungkwan, the barista slash law student that Soonyoung knew ever since he moved to Seoul, as he searched for the table with the silver haired boy. A smile naturally spread on his lips upon spotting Seungcheol, who waved at him as soon as their eyes met. He walked towards the table and sat across him. He took off his mask and returned the smile Seungcheol offered.

“Hi, Seungcheol-hyung, I’m really sorry I’m late; I fell asleep and I didn’t even set an alarm. Have you ordered yet? I’ll treat you, I know the baristas here. What coffee do you like? Have you eaten?” Soonyoung worriedly rambled, making Seungcheol laugh.

“It’s okay. No, I haven’t ordered and no, you don’t have to treat me because _I’m_ going to be the one who’s treating _you_. I actually asked the baristas their bestsellers here and they actually recommended me your favourites,” Seungcheol answered, chuckling.

Soonyoung couldn’t find the words to reply to what Seungcheol had just said. He just settled with “I—you don’t have to treat me, hyung.”

“But I want to,” Seungcheol said with a gentle smile, his dimples appearing on his cheeks.

“I… Alright, then,” Soonyoung mumbled in defeat as he eyed Seungcheol who made his way to the cashier.

After a few minutes, Seungcheol returned, carrying a tray with their lunch on it. Soonyoung’s usual orders were placed in front of him and he muttered a ‘thank you, hyung’ before digging into his lunch. The two boys ate in silence, Seungkwan and Hansol watching them from the cashier.

“Why do you think they met up today?” Seungkwan asked the younger, not taking his eyes off the older two from across the room.

“I don’t know, Kwannie. Soonyoung-hyung just said he was free until 12 today, I had no idea he would be meeting up with Lee Seokmin’s fellow athlete,” Hansol asked, wiping the counter with a damp rag.

“Lee Seokmin and Choi Seungcheol are from the same management, right?” Seungkwan asked, looking down at the reviewers he had placed near the cash register.

Hansol hummed in affirmation as he continued cleaning the bar. After a few more minutes, Seungcheol spoke up.

“What do you think?” Soonyoung looked up with furrowed brows, making a little confused sound.

“About what?” Soonyoung asked back.

Seungcheol waved his hand upwards, gesturing to the new hairdo. “The new hair colour!”

Soonyoung managed a small smile at Seungcheol’s childlike excitement.

“It looks good on you, hyung,” Soonyoung said, giving him two thumbs up.

“Really? Seokmin said he liked the other one that made me look like a Disney prince better,” Seungcheol replied, muttering the second sentence to himself as he used the back of his spoon to look at his reflection.

Soonyoung visibly tensed upon mentioning the name of the athlete and Seungcheol noticed.

“Sorry, I’m just so used to having him around that he’s part of my daily routine now,” Seungcheol softly said.

“It’s okay, hyung. He used to be part of my daily routine, too,” Soonyoung halfheartedly said, tracing invisible patterns on the table napkin.

“How are you holding up, by the way?”

Soonyoung glanced at Seungcheol and simply sighed in response.

“That bad, huh?” Seungcheol asked, worriedly eyeing the hooded boy seated across him.

“I never thought I’d be involved in a scandal like this. I never thought it’d be with him, of all the people in the world,” Soonyoung said, his chuckle so bitter he tasted it in his mouth.

“I’m glad you’re not taking it out on a beverage repertoire of a bar, unlike someone,” Seungcheol said, giving Sooonyoung’s shoulder a gentle pat.

“He drinks now?” Soonyoung asked, shoulders perking up in surprise.

“Didn’t he drink before?” Seungcheol threw back, matching Soonyoung’s surprised expression.

Soonyoung shook his head, saying, “He didn’t drink in high school. He despised the idea of getting drunk and losing control.”

Seungcheol shook his head in disbelief.

“I can’t believe it, I’ve known him for so long and I always thought he was the life of the party,” the elder said, looking a bit disappointed and a little betrayed.

“He’s really fun to hang around but he always turned me down whenever I asked him to go drinking with me and my older friends,” Soonyoung said, shrugging nonchalantly despite the painful tug of the heartstrings in his chest.

“Tell me something, Soonyoung. Are you over him?” Seungcheol asked, his intentions clear as day.

The question rendered him speechless (and absolutely dumbfounded). Soonyoung half expected that question to pop up somewhere in their conversation but he didn’t expect that Seungcheol was actually going to ask him that. He knew damn well what his answer was and he was ashamed of it. Maybe it was the pride that he failed to swallow when he turned down Seokmin, who went to his college graduation and asked him to be his boyfriend again. Like Soonyoung said before, _whatever broke you can’t fix you_. Another part of him begs to differ, that sometimes what broke you actually _can_ fix you.

“Seokmin knows the answer to that,” Soonyoung weakly said.

Seungcheol leaned back on his chair, eyebrows raised in surprised, as if Seokmin told him the absolute opposite. Soonyoung looked at the elder in confusion, his eyebrows pulled together, marking a crease on his forehead.

“Seokmin begs to differ,” muttered the hooded figure that passed by, making Seungcheol and Soonyoung look up in surprise as they both recognized whose voice it was.

Soonyoung dropped his fork as he watched the tall boy settle on a table on the other end of the room, the latter eyeing him and Seungcheol with narrowed eyes. _After all these years, he’s still a petty bitch._ Seungcheol quickly glanced at Seokmin and rushed to finish his food.

“I’m sorry, Soonyoung but I’m pretty sure he’s three seconds away from causing a scene. Let’s just grab a meal again sometime, yeah?” Seungcheol said, hurriedly standing up as he patted his pockets, obviously looking for something. “Just… contact this number when you make up your mind, alright?”

“Make up my mind about what?” Soonyoung asked as Seungcheol thrust a piece of folded paper in his hand before scurrying away to Seokmin’s table.

Soonyoung leans back in defeat, sighing as he slowly opened the folded paper. A set of digits were scrawled across the paper, Soonyoung’s eyes going over it three more times before realization hit him. He knew whose number it was. _Of course._ He still had them memorized after all this time. Soonyoung quietly finished his lunch and looked up when someone joined him on the table. It was Jihoon. Soonyoung slightly smiled upon seeing someone so familiar.

“I thought you were with the boyfriend?” Soonyoung asked as he stacked the used plates on the tray, wiping the table with leftover tissue paper.

“The boyfriend suddenly craved chicken and me being the _greatest_ boyfriend in the universe, I _got out of bed_ for that tall lovable idiot to go get him some,” Jihoon grumbled, lifting his arm to show the plastic bag that contained three boxes of chicken.

“Why are you here?” Soonyoung asked, running a hand through his hair, pushing his hood down in the process.

“Got me my daily dose of caffeine. Seungkwan should be bringing it over any second now,” Jihoon hummed, looking around, Soonyoung looking past the latter’s shoulder as he sneaked a peek at Seungcheol and the other hooded person.

Jihoon’s eyebrows furrowed upon noticing that Soonyoung had his eyes fixated on something else and looked behind him. He turned back with wide eyes and shouted through a whisper, “Seokmin’s here?! Did you talk to him?”

Soonyoung averted his gaze, awkwardly touching the back of his neck as he muttered, “sort of.”

“What do you mean, ‘sort of’? Tell me all about it!” Jihoon said, trying to catch Soonyoung’s gaze as another person approached the table.

“One iced Americano for—“Soonyoung-hyung? And Jihoon-hyung?” _Ah, this day is just full of surprises, isn’t it?_ Soonyoung and Jihoon looked up to see Minghao, who stopped in the middle of his stride, beside Hansol, who was awkwardly holding a tray with Jihoon’s drink on it.

“We all cancelled our plans just to run into each other at the same goddamn café?” Jihoon said, scoffing, making the others laugh, as he stood up and grabbed his drink from the tray, which Hansol now had tucked at his side.

Minghao glanced at the other side of the room and did a double take upon seeing the hooded figure sitting across Seungcheol. Hansol noticed as well and turned to Soonyoung with wide curious eyes.

“Obviously, I owe all of you an explanation,” Soonyoung said, sighing exasperatedly.

“And a SHINee DVD watching marathon,” Hansol added.

“And fried chicken,” Jihoon added with a snicker.

“And beer,” Minghao finally added to which Soonyoung just nodded with a sigh of defeat.

“Alright, alright, we’ll do all of that when you’re not busy,” Soonyoung said, standing up and reaching over to ruffle Hansol’s hair, a smile uncontrollably broke from Hansol’s resting blank face.

Soonyoung gave Minghao a hug and a few bills to buy him one of the fancy lattes he usually ordered and walked back to the apartment alongside Jihoon after waving to Seungkwan, who looked up from the reviewers just to bid his Soonyoung-hyung goodbye. Jihoon went ahead to his apartment as Soonyoung checked his mailbox, which was surprisingly empty as he was waiting for one of his many online purchases to arrive. When he arrived at the fifth floor, he saw something left for him on his doorstep once again. As he walked closer to his unit, he realised that the thing that was left for him was a box of fried chicken. _He left me something again? Damn, Jihoon’s boyfriend is acting like he’s_ my _boyfriend, too._ Soonyoung thought as he opened the door and tucked the box under one arm with one hand and typed out a text to Jihoon with the other, a soft smile on his lips. He slipped on his house slippers and hit send.

**TO buff babie neighbour:** _tell him i said thanks, AGAIN!! can i steal him one of these days so i can treat him some tteokbokki? hahaha_

 Soonyoung placed the fried chicken on the coffee table in the living room and giddily skipped to his room to change it to one of his many soft comfy pajama sets and a pair of fluffy socks. He hummed to himself as he put on a fluffy pink headband with bunny ears before slapping a tea leaf sheet mask on his face. He walked to the kitchen, his favourite blanket tucked under his arm, sliding on his feet and laughing when he almost fell. He opened the fridge and took out two cans of beer. He turned on the TV, went on Netflix and proceeded to turn off the lights. He settled on the couch, favourite blanket draped over him, box of fried chicken on his lap, feet resting on the coffee table with a beer hand in one hand and the remote in the other. By the time he found something to watch, it was time to take his face mask off already. Not wanting to stand up, he groaned, took it off and put it on the coffee table next to his feet. He sat back, sipped his beer and sighed in content.

After a few hours of binge watching a TV show, Soonyoung finally decided to clean up and get ready for bed. He threw all his trash in the bin and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth. As he was singing a jazz rendition of Happy Birthday, the toothpaste foam splashing on the sink from his mouth as well as dribbling down his chin, he was checking on the notifications he missed while he was binging. So far he had two text messages and an e-mail. He pocketed his phone and gargled some water to rinse his mouth. He trudged to his room after grabbing his blanket from the couch. He turned off all the lights and lay down in bed. His eyes were drooping but before letting himself drift to sleep, Soonyoung decided to open his notifications. One of the two texts he had received was from Jihoon and the other was from an unknown number. He opened Jihoon’s text first.

**buff babie neighbour:** _what are you thanking him for ??? he was napping when i left the house_

Soonyoung’s eyes suddenly weren’t drooping anymore as he felt more awake than ever. _If he didn’t give me the chicken, then who did?_ He sent a quick reply to Jihoon before moving on to the next message.

**TO buff babie neighbour:** _oops sorry my bad_

**Unknown number:** _hey it’s me i uhh still know where your apartment is and i dropped off some chicken as a peace offering for all that’s been happening lately. i’m really sorry you’re included in a scandal because of me :/ i wanted to get you flowers but .. yeah. i’m not sorry about the café thing tho. i don’t know the answer. i don’t know if you’ve moved on already. just know that i’m still waiting for you. even just as your friend. anyways i hope you enjoyed your chicken :D_

Soonyoung almost threw his phone across the room. He was mad and annoyed and he wanted to throw up. He should’ve known the chicken was from Seokmin. Only Seokmin would know him well enough to use food as peace offerings when they’ve gotten into fights. _This isn’t just some fight where he could make it up by giving me chicken. I would_ never _accept anything from him. Damn it, that chicken was good though._ Soonyoung groaned in annoyance and moved on to read the e-mail that he didn’t know would be the ultimate cherry on top.

**_ You’re Taking a Hiatus _ **

**_CEO Jeon Wonwoo_ ** _12 Jun_

_Good evening, my dear employee Kwon Soonyoung. In light of the recent events regarding your scandal with athlete Lee Seokmin, I have decided to put you on a hiatus until this scandal dies down. I cannot cancel your interview with singer Joshua nor can I stop you from using your media pass because you are a journalist but you are **banned** from doing any work from and/or related to your current position as top journalist in Check In. It breaks my heart having to have the need to write this e-mail but it’s what needs to be done. Yoon Jeonghan-ssi will continue with his work and will not entertain your requests after your interview with Joshua. I hope you understand the reason why I am doing this, for your sake and everyone else’s._

_Always,_

_CEO Jeon Wonwoo_

_P.S. — please do not show up at Check In tomorrow fuming like a little hamster who got his celery stick stolen. You’ll still get to see me and the others, just not at the office. Stay safe, Soonie <3_

His phone let out a small ‘ding’ as another notification arrived, which was from the Check In™ app, disrupting his groan of mixed anger and frustration towards whatever shitstorm had just arrived and was fucking up his life’s natural order. _(shitstorm = Lee Seokmin)_

**Check In™: “Journalist Kwon Soonyoung will be on hiatus until further notice…” (SEE FULL STATEMENT)**

Soonyoung threw his phone against the wall and rubbed his eyes, trying to stop the tears of frustration from flowing. _Jeon Wonwoo, you truly are the cherry on the fucking top_ _of this fantastically chaotic day._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if y'all saw my tweet on gaychwe, it's currently 4:35 am, i should be sleeping but i'm writing anyway and my laptop decided to shut down (THE AUDACITY) as i was typing the note at the end of the chapter fhjdkhgsdkhf 
> 
> anyways hello my dudes, my gurlies and my beloved beans in between !!! i am bacc ! this is a third of the original chapter three !! the 2/3 of the chapter will be written in seokmin's point of view and i rlly wanted this chapter to be rlly long but i decided against it bc a) i'm impulsive and b) there's a high chance i could get stuck in a writer's block after this fjdhgkd but i won't start another fic or au until i finish this one so yES U'LL BE SEEING MORE OF ME congrats 
> 
> i'm lit rally rambling . blame the lack of sleep and excitement bc i'm seeing my bffies in a few days yeEHAW 
> 
> alright okay here is my [twitter](https://twitter.com/naptime_twt) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/leaderlines)
> 
> also ,, update on the ateez stanning agenda: i'm stanning them now YAY so far my biases are mingi, yunho and san !!! they make me want to cover my ears bc they're all so goddamn loud but i love them all so much i love ateez stan ateez roty
> 
> happy father's day to kun, hwitaek and hongjoong i hope they're all doing alright with their kids
> 
> stay hydrated ! stop using plastic straws ! use a tote bag instead of a plastic bag ! and have a great day everydayyyyy
> 
> ♡ jia


	4. i assume that was your doing?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> no, seokmin did not have any contact lenses to make him prettier that day.

Though it was just a practice match, their coaches insisted on putting up posters and inviting press and spectators to watch their match like they would with their real matches. Seokmin was always amused whenever he had to face his best friend in the ring and go out to eat a celebratory dinner with him after—the loser paid, of course. The first round began and there was a wide smile on his opponent’s lips.

“What, no contact lenses to make you pretty today?” Mingyu taunted as Seokmin dodged a punch, both of them tuning out the cheers from the crowd and the sounds of camera shutters clicking.

They’ve always been like that. Practice match or not, whenever they were in the ring, it was like they were in a different world where no one can disturb them but Seokmin had a feeling that would change soon.

“Nope,” Seokmin grunted while kicking the former in the shin so hard that he lost his balance.

Mingyu laughed as Seokmin straddled his hips and threw punches at him. He got a few punches in but Seokmin was on fire that day. _Damn, Seokkie’s extra mad today. Maybe he doesn’t want to pay for dinner._ Mingyu could hear his coach shouting from the side that he should get up and stop playing around but he wasn’t in the mood to give his best friend bruises. A few rounds passed by and Seokmin won. Unlike other opponents Seokmin encountered before, Mingyu cheered as well when they announced him as the winner. He was panting, his entire body covered in sweat. He and Mingyu were given towels and their water bottles; the crowd and press being ushered out of the venue after their coaches thanked them all for coming that day. Mingyu’s coach went inside the ring and put a firm hand on his shoulder.

“What were you doing back there?” Daeyong asked with his tone intimidatingly calm and eyes trained on Mingyu’s face.

Mingyu huffed with a pout and grumbled, “Seokkie didn’t wanna play.”

“But he won, dumb ass,” Seokmin’s coach, Sijin said as he massaged Seokmin’s tense shoulders.

“Seok _did_ look like he wasn’t up to play,” Daeyong pointed out as they stepped off the ring and walked to the athletes’ holding room.

“What’s up, little man?” Sijin asked, slinging his arm across the athlete’s shoulders, making Mingyu and Daeyong’s eyebrows furrow in confusion.

“He’s one centimeter taller than you, hyung,” Mingyu said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Seokmin just walked in stride with the three other boys, Mingyu dangling Daeyong’s water bottle above his head, the latter attempting to grab it from the younger. Sijin frowned when Seokmin still didn’t respond.

“You know what? I think you did great today. What do you say we get you that customized silk robe you always wanted?” Sijin piped up, attempting to lift up his and the latter’s spirits.

Seokmin, to no avail, still didn’t react to Sijin’s statement, which, if said to him on a regular day, he’d be excited and thank the coach a thousand times. Sijin slightly drew back in surprise and shook his head in disbelief, walking ahead to the lockers to retrieve his and Seokmin’s bags. Daeyong just sighed and trailed after Sijin. Mingyu heaved a sigh, showing the older that he cared and that he’s there for him through a firm squeeze on his shoulder. Seokmin sat on one of the benches and drank water from his jug, towel perched on a shoulder. Mingyu walked to his locker to retrieve his bag as Sijin handed Seokmin his bag. Seokmin wordlessly opened his bag and pulled out his phone to send a message.

 **TO CEO Jeon Wonwoo:** _Hyungggg, I read the company’s statement. What will Soonyoung-hyung do now? :(_

Mingyu walked back to sit next to Seokmin and took a peek at his screen. When he saw who the older was texting, he let out a defeated sigh and gave him another pat on the back. Placing his phone on the bench, Seokmin wiped off his sweat and put on a fresh set of clothes

 **CEO Jeon Wonwoo:** _he’ll be forced to deal with it, duh_

 **CEO Jeon Wonwoo:** _he’s on break now, he’s not allowed to work_

 **CEO Jeon Wonwoo:** _hahaha you can only imagine his reaction. he came here like a fuming hamster who got his celery stolen_

 **CEO Jeon Wonwoo:** _he charged into my office with a broken phone, blaming me_

 **CEO Jeon Wonwoo:** _he was muttering about fried chicken too… i assume that was your doing?_

 **TO CEO Jeon Wonwoo:** _you know I meant well, hyung :(_

Seokmin sighed guiltily, locking his phone, before leaving the holding room with his bag. _(“Seokmin, what about your robe—“Shut up, Sijin.” “Hey!” “Hyungs, you rarely act like professionals.” “200 push-ups for a week, Kim.” “But hyung!” “That’s Coach to you.”)_ He quickly bounded down the stairs, glancing at his watch to see that he was running sort of late to his café date with Mingyu. Yes, the very same Mingyu he had just defeated. The same Mingyu he left at the venue. The same Mingyu who lived nearer the café but was always late to their café dates. He pulled out his phone and typed a message into their kickboxing circle group chat as he walked down the sidewalk.

**K.A.T.N. (Kick Ass Take Names)**

**nosecalibur:** _mingyu is late to our date lol_

 **gyu’s favourite:** _as always_

 **fashion designist:** _is he like this with you?_

 **gyu’s favourite:** _no :]_

 **hoon’s (least) favourite:** _HFDJKGH IM OMW SORRY SEOK DAEYONG-HYUNG MADE ME DO 200 PUSH-UPS FOR CALLING HIM UNPROFESSIONAL_

 **disney prince’s butler:** _lol serves u right hahahah_

Seokmin slid in a booth tucked in a corner of the café, his mood slightly lifted by his friends and their chaos.

 **disney prince’s butler:** _yo why are hoon and hao still in this gc_

 **hoon’s (least) favourite:** _why not :-(_

 **fashion designist:** _because ?????_

 **gyu’s favourite:** _we quit years ago !_

 **_nosecalibur:_ ** _but :(_

 **gyu’s favourite:** _this is the only time we agree with cheol-hyung, right, hao?_

 **fashion designist:** _you’re too mean hyung hahahaha_

 **gyu’s favourite:** _you agree tho_

 **fashion designist:** _of course i do_

 **disney prince’s butler:** _you guys are mean >:( _

**hoon’s (least) favourite:** _at this point how are you even surprised_

 **nosecalibur:** _you guys will always be part of katn! :D_

 **_fashion designist:_ ** _basically we’re honorary members????_

 **nosecalibur:** _hurry up, mingyu !!!_

 **gyu’s favourite:** _ex members***_

 **fashion designist:** _oh right_

 **fashion designist:** _it’s like keeping tao, luhan and kris in the exo gc even when they’re not in exo anymore lol_

 **gyu’s favourite:** _ok yixing-nator_

 **disney prince’s butler:** _ot12 exo :(_

 **hoon’s (least) favourite:** _HELLO I HAVE ARRIVED_

 **gyu’s favourite:** _ew you have arrived_

 **fashion designist:** _yixing is my Best Choice don’t come @ me chanyeol-nator_

 **gyu’s favourite:** _hEY_

Seokmin looked up at the door with the ghost of a hopeful smile on his lips but when he laid his eyes on the entrance, his eyes widened when he saw someone he didn’t exactly want to cross at that moment. (Behind that someone was Mingyu, who was frantically waving his hand that was holding a box of something with a wolfish smile on his _stupid—_ Jihoon’s description, not Seokmin’s—face, but Seokmin didn’t notice as he was busy staring at the fuming hamster charging at the cashier to get his stress relievers.) Seokmin gulped and looked down at his lap where he rested his clasped hands. Mingyu placed a box of choco pie on chair next to Seokmin, where his backpack was placed.

“I’m just going to order, I’ll be back,” Mingyu said, ruffling Seokmin’s hair.

Seokmin just nodded and hid a smile as he looked at the box of choco pie next to his backpack. It’s always been Mingyu’s post-match habit to always give his opponent a box of choco pie, no matter the result of the match. His gaze followed Mingyu as the latter lined up to the cashier but, of course, he couldn’t help getting distracted by the journalist’s presence. As he was about to look away, Soonyoung locked eyes with him. _SHIT, FUCK, I–_ His thoughts were disrupted as Soonyoung advanced towards him with fire in his eyes. _Oh, no._ Soonyoung was practically stomping (okay, not really, but you get the point) towards Seokmin, making the latter’s eyes widen and heart beat faster (in fear? In excitement? No one knows at this point.). Just as Soonyoung was going to open his mouth, they both heard it. The sound of a camera shutter clicking.

“Fuck, they spotted us.”

“Shit.”

“This is your fault, hyung!”

“Shut _up_ , Seokmin.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hi i'm finally back yEHES i've been away bc a.) i may or may not have been in a slump and b.) school is !!! also my college entrance exams r coming up soon so i've been taking care of my applications heheh anw i hope u liked the update !! it's kinda short but yea i love the k.a.t.n. gc !!,!! if you don't think jihoon is chanyeol biased, please do tell me who you think his exo bias would be KSHDKDH (mine is chanyeol too) aNYWAY i kinda like how this chapter turned out heheh so ye i'll see yall in the next chapter !! until then i'll be on on [twitter](https://twitter.com/naptime_twt) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/naptime_cc) leave a comment too if u want heheh 
> 
> belated happy birthday to my old man hwitaek !!
> 
> stay hydrated and stan pentagon! and have a good day every day !!!
> 
> ♡ j


	5. jihoon-hyung's gonna kill him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> here's a special episode where you will see how jihoon lives his life amongst the drama (brought to you by Soonyoung and Seokmin!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello i'm finally back with chapter five after four months !! i won't make the note too long SO please keep in mind that when you see the *** that i used as a sort of page break, it means that the perspective of the story is narrated in Hansol's point of view !!! when you see the *** again, it means that the chapter is back to Jihoon's narration. okay, that's it. enjoy!!!

_Babyyyyyy._ Jihoon cracked an eye open to snooze his alarm and turned back to snuggle into his human pillow named Kim Mingyu, who was also awakened by Jonghyun’s singing.

“When will you change your alarm?” Mingyu whined. “It wakes me up two hours earlier than I’m supposed to.”

“Shut up and let me get my five minutes,” Jihoon replied, voice muffled by the latter’s shirt.

Mingyu huffed and drifted back to sleep. Five minutes passed. _Babyyyyyy._ Mingyu snapped his eyes open and sat up, pushing Jihoon off the bed in the process, crossing his arms across his chest with an annoyed huff.

“Hyung!”

“Mingyu!”

Jihoon was sitting on the floor, eyes narrowed at the tall boy, who was also narrowing his eyes at him, which marked the start of their staring contest, where they waited who’d break eye contact and apologize. It was Mingyu who usually apologized but Jihoon felt that his fault was greater than the latter who made him fall off the bed. He stopped narrowing his eyes and sighed, shoulders relaxing from the tension, before standing up and sitting on the edge of the bed. Mingyu looked away and huffed again. Jihoon moved to sit on his lap, facing him, making the latter look up in surprise.

“Sorry, Gyu, I won’t wake you up earlier next time,” Jihoon softly said, patting Mingyu’s head gently.

“Will you be the little spoon next time, too?” Mingyu asked, smirking, making Jihoon slap his head before getting off his lap. “Ow! What was that for?”

“Don’t push it,” Jihoon muttered as he got off the bed and made his way to the bathroom.

“I love you!” Mingyu said, smiling teasingly.

“Yeah, same here; go back to bed, dumb ass,” was all Jihoon said before going inside the bathroom.

He heard Mingyu reply a ‘why don’t you say it back’ but he practically heard the smile in his tone, making him smile as well. He wasn’t very showy of what he felt but he knew that Mingyu knew he loves him too.

After he finished taking a bath and getting dressed, he headed to the kitchen where he always found Mingyu cooking breakfast for the two of them and their new favourite neighbour, Hansol, who was probably just getting up around that time to get ready for university. Mingyu packed some for the younger and served their share on the table.

“Eat up,” Mingyu said, squeezing his shoulder gently once he settled on his usual chair.

Mingyu was only clad in his pajama bottoms and an apron that barely covered his pecs with a cliché quote, which was “Kiss the Cook”. A smile spread across Jihoon’s lips as he stole a glance at the boy across him.

“What?” Mingyu asked, looking up, mouth full, looking like a hungry puppy caught in the headlights.

“Nothing,” Jihoon hummed, Mingyu nodded in response and kept chewing. “I’m just so lucky to eat breakfast with my sexy chef boyfriend.”

Mingyu almost choked on the food in his mouth and reached over to drink from his glass of water, making Jihoon laugh at his boyfriend’s antics.

“Hyung,” Mingyu whined, making Jihoon chuckle more.

“What? I’m just being honest,” Jihoon said, smiling innocently as he finished up his breakfast.

Mingyu huffed and crossed his arms across his chest before saying, “Aren’t you supposed to go to work?”

“Kicking me out early, babe?” Jihoon taunted with a teasing smirk as he stood up, knowing how much the nickname affects the younger.

Mingyu just rolled his eyes jokingly before leaning towards the elder to give him a soft kiss. Jihoon grabbed Vernon’s astronaut lunchbox as well as his very own astronaut lunchbox (that Mingyu got on a 1 + 1 deal) on the counter top as he slung his satchel over his shoulder. Jihoon ruffled Mingyu’s hair and gently booping his nose with a loving smile before going out the door.

“Have a great day, honey!” Mingyu teasingly called.

“You too, Gyu. You still owe Daeyong-hyung 200 push-ups. That’s for a week, right?” Jihoon retorted.

“Don’t remind me,” Mingyu whined. “There’s also that thing with Seokmin and Hoshi-hyung.”

“Don’t remind _me_ , Wonwoo’s been stressed out because of them, especially Soonyoung,” Jihoon said, huffing in return.

“Go on now, you’ll be late,” Mingyu said, shooing him off.

“Okay. We’ll have dinner with Ddori tonight, okay?” Jihoon said, waving goodbye.

“Okay,” Mingyu said, nodding.

Jihoon then closed the door and went over to the unit across Soonyoung, which was the unit to the left of his and Mingyu’s. Hansol had a habit of leaving the door unlocked since he apparently didn’t have anything that was “steal-worthy” anyway. _That kid is so careless._ Jihoon opened the door as quietly as possible since Hansol often fell asleep wherever he was last working. As he quietly walked towards the kitchen, he looked around to see if Hansol fell asleep under the dining table again but the boy was nowhere to be seen. He placed the lunchbox on the counter top and walked towards the bedroom to see if he was finally sleeping on his bed. He pushed open the bedroom door that was left ajar and there was Hansol, sleeping peacefully on the floor, hugging an avocado stuffed toy with a fluffy lavender blanket strewn across his body. Jihoon sighed and gently closed the door before leaving the apartment with the car he had a joint ownership with his younger brother.

After parking in his usual spot, which was Soonyoung’s usual spot but since he was banned from work therefore sentencing him to house arrest, Jihoon took the liberty of using his parking slot. Another bonus from Soonyoung’s absence was the privilege Wonwoo gave Jihoon to use Soonyoung's desk for the meantime, meaning he had to share an office Jeonghan, meaning Jeonghan saw Minghao and his other two Chinese model friends whenever the younger decided to waltz in the office to disturb him and then Wonwoo, _meaning_ Jeonghan may or may have not had a growing crush on Minghao that he was failing to conceal with the prolonged glances and numerous compliments. Maybe it wasn’t much of a bonus to see Jeonghan looking absolutely whipped for one of his best friends but it _was_ quite amusing to see the older look at Minghao with goo-goo eyes. Okay, fine, it was disgusting. But, of course, Minghao was unaware of the admiration and made Jeonghan look like an idiot for the most part and Jihoon _loved_ that.

That day, Wonwoo sent many assignments for Jihoon to finish within the week, preferably within the day. His role in the company was an editor. Since a bunch of people in the production department got sacked because of the Soonyoung incident, Wonwoo had been crowd-sourcing for editors and made Jihoon the head editor for that moment, despite him being new. That meant that Jihoon had a heavy workload and on top of that, he was also studying Neuroscience in an online university and he also had a bunch of people around him to take care of. He normally would’ve dropped something out of all his responsibilities to smuggle in some leisure time for himself but this time, he actually enjoyed being swamped with responsibilities. He knew it worried Mingyu but it was nothing to be worried about. He had everything under control.

After a few hours, he realised that he did _not_ have everything under control. He forgot his account password in the company’s system again and couldn’t access his work for the day, he also left his lunchbox in the car and Chan had used the car to drive to university after he used it to get to the company and he totally forgot that he had a quiz that day and he didn’t study anything yet.

“Oh, I’m going to die,” Jihoon groaned into his hands as he rubbed his face in frustration. “Okay, it’s okay. I can do this. What do I need to get done first? Everything. _God_ , I’m hungry, too. Fuck, fuck, _fuck_. I’m going to—“As much as I’d hate to interrupt your demon chant, I have come to save your day.” Jihoon looked up to see Minghao, holding the astronaut lunchbox and a bunch of other stuff in his other arm that looked like his notes.

“Hao!” Jihoon exclaimed in glee before proceeding to rest his forehead against his keyboard.

“Did you forget your password again?” Minghao asked as he set the lunchbox and his notebooks on his desk, to which Jihoon responded with a nod. “Text Mingyu, he probably knows. You know he remembers everything you say to him. Now, I have to go to the 4th floor for I have a shoot with the other two for this month’s fashion section.”

“Okay, have fun. Don’t forget to eat, ‘kay?” Jihoon said, lifting his head to wave to Minghao.

Minghao lightly smiled before turning to Jeonghan and saying, “Hyung, you ready?”

Jeonghan’s cheeks flushed, which he concealed by reaching down to his drawers to get something while humming a ‘yeah’. Jihoon smiled and remembered that he still hasn’t started editing anything yet. He pulled out his phone to send a text to Mingyu.

 **TO bf:** _do you know remember what i changed my password to_

He instantly got a reply.

 **bf:** _u asked noni to make a new password for u rmr? it’s mungbeanpancake_

 **bf:** _also did u get ur lunch? chan texted me that u left it in d car. good thing he ran into hao before leaving the company._

Jihoon sighed in relief as he turned on his computer again and logged in. _Finally._ He sent a text to Mingyu before starting his work while slowly finishing his lunch.

 **TO bf:** _thank you babe :)_

A few hours later, he had finished most of his workload, his lunch and his quiz and he was just hanging out in Wonwoo’s office to kill the time. He was lying comfortably on Wonwoo’s couch while Wonwoo was sitting in his computer chair, with papers scattered across his desk and the open laptop playing calm music that was contrasting with how distressed Wonwoo looked.

“Why don’t you take a break?” Jihoon asked, glancing briefly at his boss who was so close to tearing his hair out.

“Easy for you to say; you’re done with all your work for today,” Wonwoo grumbled as he opened a folder and looked through sheets of paper.

Jihoon sat up, cocking his head to the side in curiosity before saying, “What are you doing anyway?”

Two weeks have passed since the birth of the Soonyoung-Seokmin controversy and the rumours have not died down, causing a lot of stress to both Soonyoung and Seokmin but to Wonwoo as well. Jihoon had his conversations with Soonyoung and with Seokmin muted as the two relentlessly texted him with their concerns about the whole thing. Soonyoung made their chat box his diary whereas Seokmin made theirs a rendition of CuriousCat where Seokmin was not anonymous and all he asked about was Soonyoung. Jihoon took it as Seokmin was doing well but based on Mingyu’s stories, not so much.

“I’m still looking for video editors to hire,” Wonwoo groaned, running a hand through his hair and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“Have you held interviews?” Jihoon asked to which the latter responded with a nod.

“What’s the next thing you’re gonna do, boss?” Jihoon asked, deliberately calling the latter ‘boss’ to make him look up with a glare.

Wonwoo didn’t like being called boss, especially when he and Jihoon were the same age.

“I’m going to ask Chan to look for people he knew that would do a great job with video editing, especially with the type of content we put out there,” Wonwoo mumbled as he typed something down on his laptop, avoiding Jihoon’s gaze.

An amused smile grew on Jihoon’s gaze after he watched Wonwoo’s cheeks flush a deeper red after he just responded with a teasing hum. His boss was _totally_ into his brother. Torturing his boss that way simply brought joy to Jihoon’s days; he had never seen anyone be in _that_ deep in their feelings for his little brother.

“I don’t like Chan that way and he doesn’t like me that way, too,” Wonwoo grumbled then as if on cue, Chan entered the office.

“Hi, hyung… and hyung,” Chan said, first greeting Wonwoo, then his _real_ hyung, making Jihoon smile. _Point proven._

“Did you eat anything yet?”

“Have you eaten anything?”

Jihoon and Wonwoo asked in unison, making Wonwoo’s cheeks burn when Jihoon gave him an amused smirk.

“Not yet, hyungs, I’ve been running around campus finishing school stuff. I’m quite tired, actually,” Chan muttered as he sat on his computer chair tucked neatly behind his table in the corner of the room.

“You can take the entire afternoon off, then,” Wonwoo said, not looking up from his laptop.

Chan’s cheeks flushed even more when Jihoon suggestively wiggled his eyebrows at his younger brother. The younger then cleared his throat and mumbled a ‘thank you’ before clearing his desk.

“Do you want to join Noni, Gyu and I tonight? It’s nothing special, we’re just having dinner together like we always do every Monday night,” Jihoon said, still facing Chan.

“Oh, I—“We have plans already; sorry, Hoon,” Wonwoo cut the younger off, making Jihoon grin.

“You guys gonna play rock paper scissors in his bedroom?” Jihoon teasingly said.

“Jihoon!”

“Hyung!”

Jihoon threw his head back in a laugh and raised his hands up as if to surrender.

“Fine, I’ll stop teasing your asses. Just remember that when you two losers get together, I _totally_ called it,” Jihoon stood up from the couch and walked to the door. “The pining is just so tiring to watch and the sexual tension just keeps growing every time I come to this office.”

“Hyung, can you _please_ fire my brother?” Chan mumbled with narrowed eyes at Jihoon.

“Always a jolly time with you lot,” Jihoon retorted with a teasing smile. “See you at the apartment. Don’t forget to pick up the kimchi in the fridge, Chan. Have a nice night.”

Since it was already dismissal time and Jihoon already finished his workload for the day, he was free to go. He logged out of the company’s system and went to the parking lot to get the car. He tossed his satchel and lunchbox in the back and drove to Hansol’s university to pick him up. He pulled up at the café across the street of the university’s entrance.

 **TO neighbour chwe:** _i’m here_

After a minute, he got a reply.

 **neighbour chwe:** _just gonna finish up my shift at the radio station_

 **TO neighbour chwe:** _ok_

 **neighbour chwe:** _thank u for packing lunch for me again. i almost forgot to eat lunch. again._

 **TO neighbour chwe:** no prob. that’s exactly why we pack lunch for you.

Almost ten minutes passed by and Hansol did not reply to Jihoon. Jihoon decided to send him another text.

 **TO neighbour chwe:** _hurry up_

 **neighbour chwe:** _omw_

Jihoon unlocked the door upon seeing his neighbour approach the car. Hansol got in the car with a little ‘hey, hyung’ before placing his backpack at his feet and putting his seatbelt on. Both Jihoon and Mingyu had gotten closer to the younger after the entire situation with Soonyoung and Seokmin left Hansol completely confused since many of the tenants on their floor are either friends or family and they had to fill him in, considering he became a part of their small family the day he moved in and Minghao already judged the layout of his apartment. Jihoon learned that Hansol was a college student who majored in mass communication and took an interest in music production, just like him. With all the times Mingyu practically dragged the younger over to hang out with them, Jihoon had gotten used to seeing the younger at their unit unannounced. That was bound to happen especially when you share a unit with Kim Mingyu and Kim Mingyu loves to share. Sharing meant food, clothes, childhood stories and everything else like that. It took a while for Jihoon to incorporate the younger into his daily routine but after a few days, he gave in. _How could he not? Have you seen Kim Mingyu’s puppy eyes?_

They finally arrived at the apartment. When Hansol opened the door to Jihoon and Mingyu’s unit, the smell of Mingyu’s cooking hit their senses. Jihoon sighed, shoulders lagging in comfort as he left his shoes by the shoe rack near the door. Hansol left his backpack by the shoe rack and went straight to the living room, dismissively saying, “Hi, Mingyu-hyung.” as he reached for the remote. Mingyu turned to Jihoon with a smile.

“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes,” Mingyu said, looking lovingly into Jihoon’s eyes before turning to Hansol. “Don’t forget to wash your hands, Noni!”

Jihoon made his way to the kitchen to pull Mingyu down by the collar of his shirt and press a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth before saying, “Did you have a good day today?”

Mingyu stole another kiss before going back to cooking.

“My day keeps getting better and better,” Mingyu hummed, smiling.

“I take it you didn’t do your 200 push-ups,” Jihoon said, smiling teasingly.

“Oh, don’t remind me, I feel sore!”

“Oh, I’ll make you sore alright.”

“ _Hyung_ , Noni’s just sitting there!”

“And I can hear you both perfectly.”

Jihoon snickered before walking to their bedroom to get changed into his usual shirt and pajama pants combo. As he stripped of his work clothes for the day, he thought about asking Mingyu today. He decided against it. It was their Wednesday dinner night with Hansol. That kind of question was something that was meant for when it’s just the two of them.

 

***

 

Hansol reached over to get some more noodles when he noticed that Mingyu’s hands were slightly shaking on the table and— _is that sweat?_ He looked up at him and saw that he couldn’t look Jihoon in the eyes, unlike how his usually bored holes into the other’s soul. His foot was tapping on the ground, almost as if he was waiting for someone to burst through the door and ruin Jihoon’s storytelling moment. He felt something was up when he realised that the latter wasn’t reacting to his boyfriend’s stories like usual. _Maybe he left the toilet seat down again. Jihoon-hyung’s gonna kill him._

“Last night, being the absolute _menace_ of a little brother he is, he _refuses_ to do his own research and went to _me_ to ask about Mingyu when _Mingyu_ has his own K-pop Profile! He’s not even an artist yet—“I have an announcement to make,” a severely distracted but determined Mingyu interrupted.

They turned their heads to the tall boy, who was fiddling with his fingers under the table; he must’ve been holding something. He then cleared his throat, looked up at Jihoon and said, “You’ve been my roommate for a while.”

“Yeah…” Jihoon said, hesitating.

“We’ve been taking care of each other for quite some time,” Mingyu continued.

“Okay…” Jihoon replied again.

 _What was Mingyu-hyung getting at?_ Hansol had a bad feeling about where he was getting at.

“I feel like—“Wait, wait, wait, are you breaking up with me?” Jihoon, Mingyu and Hansol himself felt like the world crumbled at feet upon hearing the sentence that escaped Jihoon’s lips. Panic instantly spread across Mingyu’s face like a wildfire in an arid forest. Then at that moment, Hansol _finally_ realised where the elder was getting at.

“Wait, _what?_ No! I—“Then, what are you saying?” Jihoon said, his voice breaking at the end, his eyes starting to brim with tears.

“No, no, no, baby, I’m not breaking up with you, no,” Mingyu quickly said, reaching over the small coffee table in panic to hug his almost crying boyfriend.

There was a barely audible metallic clang on the surface of the glass table. Hansol immediately spotted the silver band with a glimmer of a little diamond that fell on the table from Mingyu’s hoodie pocket, making a small knowing smile spread across his lips. “Never in my million lives will I break up with you, Lee Jihoon.”

“Really?” Jihoon asked with mere hope shining in his eyes as he looked into his partner’s.

Mingyu nodded with a small ‘mhm’ while drawing the elder back at half an arm’s length before reaching into his hoodie pocket to get what he was probably fiddling with earlier under the table. Shock dawned on his face when he patted the inside of his pocket, only to come up empty. Hansol decided it was his time to save the day and shout through a whisper that everyone in the room could hear despite the effort of being subtle, “on the table, hyung!"

Mingyu searched for the ring on the table without taking his eyes off his lover’s face, resulting to his hand touching the kimchi and the pickled radish before being able to locate the ring successfully.

“On that note,” Mingyu drew back and sat down, holding Jihoon’s hand in his. Then, he wiped the remnants of the kimchi and the pickled radish on his hand and the ring on his hoodie before bringing it up between him and his lover. Hansol could _not_ believe his eyes; he felt immense triumph at that moment more than he ever did his entire life. _IT’S HAPPENING! Seungkwan so owes me a lunch out._ “Will you marry me?”

“YES!” Hansol shouted out, not being able to contain his happiness and victory from winning that bet with his co-worker, his fists in the air in sheer joy.

The couple laughed at their friend, leaning towards each other out of pure habit. Mingyu then looked back up at Jihoon, who just nodded in response and whispered a ‘yes’. The two leaned over the table to share a kiss but luckily, Hansol already pulled out his phone and sent out a message to one Boo Seungkwan.

**TO co-worker 1:** _pay up_

 

***

 

 _SHINee’s back. SHINee’s back. SHINee’s ba—_ Jihoon turned off his alarm and quietly slipped out of bed. He went straight to the kitchen and cooked breakfast for Mingyu and lunch for himself and Hansol, trying to be as quiet as he could. He packed his and Hansol’s lunches and checked the bedroom to see if he woke Mingyu up because of the almost-ruckus he created a little while ago when he almost dropped the frying pan on his foot. Good thing he had Spider-Man reflexes. That’s what he thinks anyways.

Thankfully, his boyfriend, wait, no, _fiancé_ was a deep sleeper and was still snoring peacefully on the bed. He quickly went to the bathroom to get ready for work. It was probably one of the fastest baths he had ever taken in his entire life. After grabbing his satchel, Jihoon quietly tiptoed over to their shared bedside table and opened the third drawer, which revealed the velvet box that contained the engagement ring that took 2 months into their relationship for Jihoon to buy (but Mingyu didn’t have to know about that). He pulled out the velvet box and grabbed a Post-It and a pen from the top drawer and scribbled a note before leaving the house for another day at work.

Jihoon was beyond excited to receive Mingyu’s reaction to the velvet box sitting on their bedside table with his little handwritten note that said:

_you beat me to it :)_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW HI HOW WAS THAT?
> 
> hello y'all wE HAVE MADE IT halfway through the fic !!!! wow i literally have no words. if you've made it up to this point, thank you for supporting me and my love for the art of writing!!! thank you for supporting the content i share with you :") i've been away for too long gOSH !! the past few months have been very challenging since school makes sure i'm beyond busy and i have no more time and energy to write but now that the hard stuff is almost over and it's christmas break, i finally found the time to continue this!! i actually only started writing the chapter again by the end of november. like i said, i've been extremely busy. i made the word document of this chapter last september 9, 2019 and i finished it 6 minutes before january 2, 2020. i'm glad i didn't rush the writing process of the chapter and give up on the entire fic. during those four months, i wanted to give up on writing this but ofc at the same time i didn't want to give up bc i really love this idea and the world i've built for kickboxing legend seokmin and journalist extraordinaire soonyoung :") sO YEs okay i can't believe we're halfway through the story wow . don't hesitate to chat me up about the story on [twitter](https://twitter.com/naptime_twt) and [curiouscat](https://curiouscat.me/naptime_cc) !!! you can also leave a comment !!! i'd love to hear about what you think :"")
> 
> support sf9 and ateez on their upcoming comebacks!!! aLSO start the decade right by watching the svt x mamamoo collab !!!
> 
> until then, stay hydrated, stream kuro by pentagon's yuto on soundcloud and have a good day every day!!
> 
> ♡ j


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